Originally Posted by
GUWonder
I have already seen people burned by the “but the border isn’t really closed to you just because an involved quarantine to cross the border may be inconvenient/costly for you”. There are a lot of people desperate to collect what they can here and now — especially when they have little faith of replacing the business they thought they got and needed to cover their costs or otherwise stay solvent in the business for a while longer at least.
Just because the ski house owner is renting out a place at $25k per week normally and has plenty in the bank, they may not necessarily cut the customer any break just because the customer finds the trip inconvenient (or even perhaps impossible).
Indeed. One of the places I looked at had the following cancellation terms (translated):
1) Cancellations are permissible up to 3 months before arrival. For cancellations between 3 months and 1 month before arrival, there is a 40% fee. [this used to be standard for ski hotels in high season]
2) The use of hotel facilities (spa, library, bar, ...) is included in the daily rate. Limitations to the use of these facilities, for whatever reason, including due to governmental regulations, do not constitute a breach of contract, and therefore do not give the guest the right to ask for a rate reduction
3) Services provided by 3rd parties (such as ski lifts) are not part of this contract. We are not responsible for the availability of such services. Limitations to the use of these services or a discontinuation of these services, before or after booking, do not give rise to an exception to the cancellation terms
4) In case we are unable to provide our services due to a closure of the hotel, the cancellation fee is waived. All other limitations (
including entry restrictions, cautionary measures, behavioral rules, ..) do not constitute a reason for a free cancellation
At least it's clear, but needless to say, I did not pursue a booking further